Bhubaneswar, Oct. 5: The Odisha government today started moving away pigs, the carrier of the Japanese encephalitis virus, from human habitations in Malkangiri district where the disease has claimed 32 lives in the past 27 days.

Speaking to The Telegraph on his return from the two-day visit to the affected areas, health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said: "Immediate intervention is needed to isolate the pigs, which carry the virus."

Health secretary Arti Ahuja said the blood samples of 21 pigs from the affected villages were sent for test. "Of them, 14 blood samples tested positive. That means 66 per cent pigs were found to be carrying the virus - which is a high prevalence rate."

The animals are being shifted under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme.

Ahuja, who had accompanied the minister to the affected areas, said: "The culex mosquitoes, which transmit the virus from pigs to human beings, can fly up to a distance of 2.5km to 3km. That's why we have decided to shift the pigs to enclosures 2.5km to 3km away from the human habitations. The villagers will be engaged on payment of daily wages from the rural job funds to guard the pigs."

The pigs are abundantly available in the tribal-dominated areas as the animal husbandry department was promoting pig rearing in these areas. "We have requested the animal husbandry department authorities to replace this with other programmes," said the health secretary.

Ahuja also said steps were being initiated to ban the sale of pork in the affected areas. "The villagers are being encouraged not to sell pigs," she said.

The district administration also cancelled the coming Durga Puja holidays of its employees to combat the disease, according to Malkangiri additional district medical officer Raghumani Gamang.

The series of death took a political turn with former Congress MP Pradeep Majhi today staging a dharna outside the district collector's residence with the bodies of two victims.

Criticising the state government for its failure to contain the spread of the disease, Majhi said: "The state government has failed to bring the vaccines to save the tribal children. This means the government is not at all bothered to save our lives."

Nayak said: "We have been writing to the Centre since the past two years to send vaccines to the state. But, the vaccines have not arrived yet."

Ahuja said the matter was taken up with the vector-borne disease control division of the central government.

"They are saying that vaccination during infection period will be counter-productive. The central government has assured us of taking up vaccination programme in the affected areas in November."

At present, around 30 children are undergoing treatment at Malkangiri district headquarters hospital. The parents of these children have requested the district medical authorities to arrange a helicopter to airlift them to AIIMS, Bhubaneswar for better treatment. "We have conveyed their concern to the state government," said additional district medical officer Raghumani Gamang.